


Spinning in Place

by writelikeitsgoingoutofstyle (twoandahalfslytherins)



Series: Convenient Group of Femslash Fics [17]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angelica becomes a workaholic when she's stressed, F/F, Luckily she has people around her who love and support her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9532160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twoandahalfslytherins/pseuds/writelikeitsgoingoutofstyle
Summary: Artists aren't exactly known for being the most down to earth people, but there's no one that Angelica trusts more to ground her when anxiety gets ahold of her.





	

When she’d started working at the non-profit, Angelica couldn’t have been happier. It’d been a source of pride to step out of her father’s shadow and make a name for herself. Angelica Schuyler, using her knowledge and gifts and talents to make the world a better place instead of turning to the private sector for the money. She was making a difference. A real difference.

At the moment- it didn’t feel like enough. She needed ten of her. The problem with non-profits was that they were almost always understaffed. There was always more to do-

Two knocks. Angelica didn’t bother to look up. No chance of it being a client or donor, not at this hour. Probably Theo looking for her opinion on tomorrow’s agenda or Martha wishing her a good night. Whoever it was could let themselves in. 

When the door did open, it didn’t take her eyes for Angelica to know it was Maria Cosway. No, the smell of roses and fuel did that. While not a common combination, Maria'd spent the last week working on turning an old truck into a piece of art for one of her classes.

“I think that’s enough of that-” 

Angelica cringed when Maria closed her laptop but made no move to stop her girlfriend from taking it away and putting it on the bookshelf. 

A bubble of anxiety worked its way through her agitation. If Maria was showing up at her work- well, it wasn’t a good sign. Maria did her best to be respectful that this was a place of business, not an area to hash out any relationship issues. 

And yet- Angelica couldn’t figure out what it was. Had she agreed to meet Maria for dinner? It wasn’t their anniversary, Angelica hadn’t slipped that far down the rabbit hole yet. 

Trying to be comforting, Maria squeezed her shoulder. “It’ll be there tomorrow-”

“That’s the problem. It’ll be there tomorrow and the next day and the next-” 

A never ending stream of things she needed to do. Needed to change. People to help, businesses to reach out to, lists to compile. There were scripts to write so that people could contact congressmen, there was fundraising to discuss. 

“Angie-” The pet name was enough to cut Angelica off, and she allowed herself to be pulled into the soft fabric of her girlfriend’s t-shirt. “Pushing yourself this hard might mean you help one or two people sooner, but it’ll burn you out quicker. There’s no button for giving yourself pneumonia for the cause.”

Part of her wanted to argue. It would make a difference to get the resources out faster, whether or not they made their funding deadline made a difference- this wasn’t something she did for a pin on her jacket. 

Besides, giving herself pneumonia for a cause would probably mean being outside in the cold. Marching in the streets or at a sign-up table while it was snowing-

Not locking herself in the office. 

Anyway, burnout was for fresh-faced interns and volunteers who hadn’t been around the block yet. 

Angelica knew how to take care of herself.

And yet-

She wasn’t. 

There was no way that Maria would let her get away with such a comment.

Thankfully, Maria didn’t push. Just stood there, running her fingers through Angelica’s hair, careful to not snag any of it. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. “Do you remember when we met?”

How could Angelica forget? It’d been the running joke among their friends, of course, Maria and Angelica were going to make it- they met in Paris.

What could be more romantic?

“You accidentally picked up my wine glass at the art show we happened to be at-” 

Angelica groaned. Of course, Maria had to start at that part. The event had been decent enough, but her mind had been elsewhere. She’d been fretting over an email she needed to send if Angelica remembered correctly. Martha had told her it could wait until her vacation was finished, but time was money, even in the nonprofit world.

So Angelica had snuck out the back with her phone and the glass of wine she’d snagged from the table. 

Which meant her first interaction with her now girlfriend had been in the form of a lecture.

Not about the wine stealing, no. About the fact that Angelica couldn’t put away work for another hour. Didn’t she understand how hard the artist had worked? They were there to experience the art and clearly, Angelica didn’t know how to do that.

“I still can’t believe you stole a stranger’s phone.”

Stole was a strong word, but Maria had heavily suggested she hand it over. It’d taken Angelica so off guard she’d complied without realizing the woman meant to hold it hostage. 

“That was a nice night,” Maria continued, almost as if she hadn’t heard Angelica’s comment. “We had an excellent dinner and I somehow managed to convince you to skip out on seeing the tower to watch the stars with me instead.”

“You think tourist attractions are trite.”

Dragged Angelica dancing instead. To coffee shops and to half the museums in the city. Maria had been a novelty. This strange woman so determined to show ‘The American’ a good time. It’d been just that, too. A good time. It’d been surprisingly easy to leave work behind with someone there to hold her hand through it.

Metaphorically speaking.

No, the actual hand holding hadn’t come until a month later when Angelica returned the favor. Showed Maria around New York when an art exhibit had her traveling nearby. It’d snowballed from there. Skype calls and care packages closing the distance until Maria ended up moving to the States.

Completely coincidental, of course. Angelica having an open room for a new roommate- that too had been merely a coincidence. 

Not that any of their friends had believed them.

“They are. But if tourist traps will get you away from this office, I’m pretty sure we can find some.”

Angelica allowed herself to be tugged to her feet before shaking free so that she could stick her laptop in her bag. “You think I’m being a bad girlfriend.”

It hurt to even say it. 

But when they weren’t living together? It was easier to justify dropping everything to spend time with Maria. Was the reality of things-

Maria reached out to push a strand of Angelica’s hair behind her ear. “I think you’re stressed and I think I’m going to give you two choices.”

That wasn’t ominous at all. “Like?”

“Leave that laptop where it is-” 

Angelica braced herself. Ready for the ultimative.

One that didn’t end up coming. At least, not the one she’d been expecting. “Or if you have to take it with us? Don’t come into the office tomorrow. I have a class pretty early, but after that I’m free. You can take it with you and hang out in the back of the room.”

Technically she could. Martha most likely wouldn’t be too upset but- “You want me to play hooky?”

“I want my girlfriend to not go gray early, which is exactly what’s going to happen if you don’t at least take the night off.”

That- Angelica owed her that. “And just what would we do with a night off?”

Any anxieties that had been building were squashed by a quick kiss, Maria pushing up to her tippy toes to do it. “Oh, I think I have a few ideas for that.”

Well, Angelica couldn’t argue with that. Maria’s ideas were always the best.

Especially when they involved getting ice cream.

They debated whether or not to head toward the park, spend an hour or so there, but as Maria put it- Angelica was too heavy to carry if she passed out somewhere.

The reminder that she’d let herself get this bad stung, but Maria didn’t rub it in. Didn’t seem too upset at their compromise either. After all, ice cream was still good on their back porch.

“Not saying I will,” Angelica started, staring up at the stars. “But if I were to agree to work from home for a few days- What’s the plan?”

“A few days? I must have done something fantastic to deserve that,” Maria teased, nudging Angelica’s leg with her toes. “I understand you still have work to do and I don’t want you doing it around the house either. The last time-”

The last time Angelica had conceded that she spent too much time in the office, and ended up working ‘from home’ for a while- it’d been horrible. If possible, she’d spent even more time fiddling over details, found it hard to detach. Eventually, Maria had made it her mission to make the office a healthier space so that she could go back.

Helped Angelica pick out a mini fridge and one of those little burners, so that she could have decent food on the occasions she stayed too late. Candles and pictures made their way onto her bookshelf. Maria even asked for Martha’s permission to paint the walls a soft yellow color and hung up curtains to make it feel more comfortable.

Hadn’t quite asked for permission to paint the mural next to the door. Martha had reminded them that they would need to paint back over it if Angelica ever changed offices- but she hadn’t fought them on it.

It stung to realize that she both had to be lured to and from the office when things got rough. Eliza used to joke that they could remove the workaholic from the office, but they couldn’t make her drink. A ridiculous mixed metaphor- and yet-

“Coffee shops. That way I’ll be more conscious of the time.” Would feel self-conscious if she spent too long there- plus, coffee always made Angelica feel better. “Or the library, while you’re in classes.”

“It’ll be nice,” Maria’s fingers were tugging at her blouse, a sure sign of anxiety and Angelica wanted to cringe at that too. At knowing that she was causing her partner pain. “Having you home? It’ll be nice.”

Angelica rubbed at her face, exhaustion setting in. “Can we just- go home for now? Talk about what happens next tomorrow?”

One step at a time.

It would be easier to try and figure out how to do this effectively after some sleep.

A fact that turned out to be only partially true. One of the biggest issues Angelica ran into again and again with self-care was that taking time off didn’t mean her brain turned off. She needed reassurance that the work was still getting done, needed to still feel like she was contributing her part so that she wasn’t being a burden. 

Not that Martha would ever call her such a thing. 

Over pancakes Maria and Angelica tried to figure something that would work.

“Hamilton already said he didn’t mind working an hour or two extra each day-” Of course Maria had already been to work, trying to ease Angelica’s burden. How had she gotten so lucky? “But under the condition that we take the kids with us on our next vacation so that he and Eliza can have some alone time.”

The idea of managing three kids for a few days wasn’t super appealing, but it would be worth it. “So long as that vacation is along the lines of going to the beach or the lake. We’re not taking them to Paris.”

Maria’s lip twitched and Angelica exhaled, feeling some of the tension leave her. If they could laugh about this? Then they could get this done without too much bloodshed. “Alex works faster than I do, so if you’d be okay with me still getting in four or so hours? Then that should cover most if not all of it.”

It wouldn’t cover the overtime she typically put in, but Angelica tried to remind herself that overtime was extra work. Was her overachieving, not something expected of her. No one could put in 200% all the time. 

“You know if Hamilton is staying late, Lafayette probably will too.” True. 

Sometimes, but only in her head, Angelica wondered if there was a crush involved there. Angelica didn’t think that Alex would cheat on her sister, but the Frenchman definitely seemed adoring. Or maybe that was just the culture clash and Angelica just wasn’t used to seeing two adult men so openly fond with one another.

Angelica swallowed the bite of pancakes she’d been over chewing, washing them down with milk before nodding. “Okay, I think it’s safe to email Martha at this point. I’ll commit to four hours of at home work, use my sick time for the rest. Heaven knows I’ve built up enough of that to cover me for a few days.”

Which left what they were going to do with the rest of that time. Even with her work covered, it wouldn’t be easy for Angelica to just rest idly. Which meant trying to keep herself busy without letting it be anything too taxing.

“If you’re not going to work while I’m teaching, you could always come join?” Maria wiggled her eyebrows, “I promise not to grade you too hard. I’ll even let you make flowers the whole time.”

Maybe making Maria’s anniversary gift in her studio hadn’t been Angelica’s brightest idea. But buying something for such an artsy woman hadn’t felt appropriate, especially with how dedicated to the idea reuse and recycling she was.

Angelica flushed, grateful for her dark skin’s ability to hide her blushing. “They were a gift. For a very lovely lady in my life and I didn’t know anywhere else that would have such a variety of supplies.”

“Such a wonderful gift too. But it could be nice- you could even try out some different methods? Try sculpting or painting?” Maria swiped Angelica’s empty plate from her, going to drop them in the sink. “Your wardrobe shows that you have a pretty good eye for color. It would be fun to see what you pull off.”

That sounded-

Fantastic. It would keep her hands and mind busy, and she’d get to try something new. If she messed up too horribly, Maria would have new teasing material but that was a risk that Angelica was willing to take. “It could be fun. But what about the rest of the time?”

“Angelica Schuyler, I know you aren’t trying to micromanage your days off.” The sharpness of the words was softened by Maria’s fond sigh. “I was thinking that maybe we could have a date night? Go out to eat tomorrow, at one of those fancy restaurants you so like. An excuse to wear a dress. We could even catch a movie after?”

“What about dancing?” Angelica pushed herself away from the table, moving so that she could wrap her arms around Maria’s waist, chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “It’s been awhile since we went dancing.”

Maybe that was what Angelica needed. To schedule in dates on her calendar, to remind herself to be more present in this relationship. Or really, not even just her relationship with Maria- but her relationship with herself. A weekly or bi-weekly dance class would be good for that.

Would give them an excuse to touch, bodies swaying. 

The fact that Maria looked extra nice in a dress wasn’t exactly a deterrent either.


End file.
